<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="13392540" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="danielle-fishel" source="Orion">Danielle Fishel</keyword> told Insider she doesn't think "<keyword id="13392542" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="boy-meets-world" source="Orion">Boy Meets World</keyword>" addressed <keyword id="11909826" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="body-image" source="Orion">body image</keyword> in a "positive" way.</li><li>Fishel opened up about dieting on set of the sitcom to People in 2010. </li></ul><p>Danielle Fishel told Insider in a joint interview with costars <keyword id="14376527" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="will-friedle" source="Orion">Will Friedle</keyword> <a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-meets-world-rider-strong-disconnected-from-show-2022-7">and Rider Strong</a> while promoting their "Boy Meets World" <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-pod-meets-world-98589488/">rewatch podcast "Pod Meets World"</a> that she doesn't think the hit <keyword id="13728907" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tgif" source="Orion">TGIF</keyword> sitcom addressed body image in a "positive" way. </p><p>The actor, who played protagonist Cory's (Ben Savage) childhood sweetheart and <a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-meets-world-danielle-fishel-resented-the-show-2022-4">eventual wife Topanga</a> on the show from 1993 to 2000, <a href="https://people.com/health/danielle-fishel-slams-haters-who-criticized-her-marriage-and-weight/">told People in 2010</a> that she had body image issues while filming the show. </p><p>"I was terrified to eat," she told the magazine at the time. According to People, Fishel weighed only 89 pounds when she was 16. </p><p>She said that at times she would take laxatives and eat a diet of only iceberg lettuce to try and lose weight. Fishel told People that when she collapsed on set one day she "realized this was not a game." </p><div type="image" title="Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel, and Will Friedle." height="3615" width="4821" msid="92815165" hostid="261" sizebytes="1212616"></div><p>"I've learned to be comfortable in my own skin," Fishel said in 2010.</p><p>It's unclear when the incident in question happened, but "Boy Meets World" was promoting questionable messages about body image even in its final season, which aired in 2000.</p><p>In a season seven episode called "She's Having My Baby Back Ribs," <a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-meets-world-danielle-fishel-ben-savage-one-date-2022-3">Topanga and Cory's</a> brother Eric (Friedle) go on a secret diet. When Cory overhears a conversation they're having, he assumes she's pregnant and the assumption becomes a rumor that spins out of control among their circle of friends.</p><p>The lesson at the end of the episode was meant to be encouraging, but the execution is flawed.</p><div type="image" title="Savage and Fishel on &quot;Girl Meets World.&quot;" height="1999" width="2666" msid="92815166" hostid="261" sizebytes="243362"></div>Fishel told Insider that "Boy Meets World" ultimately "lacked" any effective message about body positivity, and Friedle agreed. The costars said that they will talk about the issue when they reach that episode in the rewatch <keyword id="11918054" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="podcast" source="Orion">podcast</keyword>. <p>"We've had enough time away from the show that we can actually honestly look back at it and have adult eyes and 2022 eyes, and see how 'Boy Meets World' affected what ended up being the rest of our lives," Fishel said about why the timing of "<keyword id="14376526" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pod-meets-world" source="Orion">Pod Meets World</keyword>" premiering now is perfect. </p><p>Along with addressing flawed storylines, Fishel, Friedle, and Strong promised listeners on the first episode of the podcast that they will be having open conversations with cast members like Trina McGee, who has spoken out about the racism she experienced on set. </p><div type="image" title="Danielle Fishel and Trina Mcgee on &quot;Boy Meets World.&quot;" height="2194" width="2925" msid="92815167" hostid="261" sizebytes="459894"></div><p>The cast has already had some of those conversations privately, and Fishel told Insider the open discussions have made them <a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-meets-world-danielle-fishel-trina-mcgee-racism-cast-closer-2022-7">"so much closer." </a></p><p>"The tears that have been shed, the hugs that we've had, the closeness it has brought us, has been some of my favorite moments of the last several years," she said.</p><p>New episodes of "Pod Meets World" are released on Mondays.</p>

Danielle Fishel says 'Boy Meets World' didn't address body-image issues in a 'positive' way

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Danielle Fishel revealed how she got a job at Bloomingdale's after "Boy Meets World" ended.</li><li>"I was really good at wrapping presents," Fishel said on the rewatch podcast "Pod Meets World."</li></ul><p>"Boy Meets World" star Danielle Fishel revealed that she had a surprising job years after the hit TGIF sitcom ended — she was a gift wrapper <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-bloomingdales-one-tenth-of-usual-size-to-be-convenient-2021-7">at a Bloomingdale's store</a> in Newport Beach, California while going to college around 2009.</p><p>"I liked to wrap presents," she said on Monday's episode of her <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marty-york-meets-world/id1629908611?i=1000574596900">rewatch podcast "Pod Meets World."</a></p><p>During a conversation that began around the 34:00 mark of the episode, Fishel, her cohosts Rider Strong and Will Friedle, and guest Marty York (who appeared on a handful of "Boy Meets World" episodes) began talking about actors being looked down upon when they take <a href="https://www.insider.com/jobs-actors-had-before-fame-2018-9">jobs outside of Hollywood.</a></p><div type="image" title="Danielle Fishel laughing in red dress." height="2666" width="3555" msid="93287090" hostid="261" sizebytes="398082"></div><p>Fishel then revealed how she got her own unexpected job after the ABC show ended.</p><p>According to Fishel, she was at Bloomingdale's buying a set of wine glasses for a former <a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-meets-world-rider-strong-disconnected-from-show-2022-7">"Boy Meets World" costar's</a> wedding gift the next day. She wanted it gift-wrapped, but when she went to the department to pick them up, the woman told her that her gift wouldn't be ready until the next day. Although it was hours before the store was meant to close, Fishel said the woman told her she had closed the register early because the store was slow, and the woman refused to re-open the register. </p><p><a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-meets-world-danielle-fishel-trina-mcgee-racism-cast-closer-2022-7">The actor and director</a> said she told the employee, "I have no problem wrapping it. Can you just give me the materials and I'll wrap it right here?" Fishel then proceeded to "sit down on the floor in the Bloomingdale's customer service department" to wrap the gift herself.</p><p>Eventually, a manager came back and saw what Fishel was doing. After he chastised his employee for refusing to wrap Fishel's gift, he complimented Fishel's gift-wrapping skills.</p><p>"He looks at me and he goes, 'that's actually really good,'" she said, adding that she replied, "Thanks, I love to wrap presents." </p><p>The "Girl Meets World" star said the manager then gave her his card. After thinking about it, she decided that she wanted to fill out an application. She got the job and even worked alongside the girl who had refused to wrap her gift, who ended up being "very nice."</p><div type="image" title="Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel, and Will Friedle." height="3615" width="4821" msid="93287092" hostid="261" sizebytes="1212616"></div>Fishel said that while she had just planned to work at the department store for the holiday season, she ultimately decided to extend her stay and eventually found she was "really good" at customer service in addition to gift-wrapping.<p>"I had a woman lunge across the counter at me. It was incredible," Fishel recalled.</p><p>And while Fishel did get recognized by customers on occasion, she played coy about confirming who she was. Instead, when customers asked her if people told her she looked like the girl from "Boy Meets World," she would simply say "yes."</p><p>New episodes of "Pod Meets World" are released weekly. </p><iframe frameborder="0" height="175" style="width:100%;max-width:660px;overflow:hidden;background:transparent;" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marty-york-meets-world/id1629908611?i=1000574596900"></iframe>

'Boy Meets World' star Danielle Fishel says she worked as a gift-wrapper at Bloomingdale's after the show ended: 'I liked to wrap presents'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Danielle Fishel addressed a "pay disparity" between her and her male costars on "Boy Meets World."</li><li>She said it persisted after she was made a series regular and her team advised her to skip a table read.</li></ul><p>On Monday's episode of the "Boy Meets World" <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lauren-lapkus-meets-world-tgi-episode-107-grandma-was/id1629908611?i=1000575323631">rewatch podcast "Pod Meets World,</a>" Danielle Fishel and her cohosts Rider Strong and Will Friedle discussed the large "pay disparity" in Fishel's contract when compared to her male costars and how she skipped a table read during negotiations to lessen the gap.</p><p>The hosts and their guest Lauren Lapkus were discussing <a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-meets-world-danielle-fishel-reacts-criticize-topanga-yale-2022-7">Fishel's standing on the show</a> throughout the early seasons of the hit TGIF sitcom around the 21:00 mark when Fishel referenced the pay disparity that persisted "even after I became a series regular."</p><p>"The excuse that was used was that, 'Well, we didn't know you were gonna be on the show,'" she said.</p><div type="image" title="Danielle Fishel wearing a black sweater and blue top." height="1589" width="2118" msid="93465457" hostid="261" sizebytes="148834"></div><p>Fishel's role as Topanga Lawrence, Cory Matthews' (Ben Savage) <a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-meets-world-danielle-fishel-ben-savage-one-date-2022-3">eventual love interest and wife</a>, was initially just a small guest star part on season one, filmed when Fishel would have been around 12 years old. Series creator Michael Jacobs and producers saw potential in the pairing and then expanded Topanga's role to include more episodes in season one and continue in season two. </p><p>"By season two, you did know. By season two, I was accounted for," Fishel said, noting that the excuse that there wasn't money in the budget to pay her more should go "out the window" by then. But it didn't.</p><p>Fishel, now 41, said that unnamed executives gave her and her team the same excuse as late as season three, though she and Strong had the same agent at the time. </p><div type="image" title="Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel, and Will Friedle." height="3615" width="4821" msid="93465458" hostid="261" sizebytes="1212616"></div><p>Friedle added that Fishel was paid significantly less even when the show was "clearly building Cory and Topanga as a thing."</p><p>Cory's romance with Topanga technically started on her first episode, titled "Cory's Alternative Friends," when Topanga gave Cory his first kiss. When Fishel became a regular, it slowly gained at least as much importance as his friendship with Shawn (Strong).</p><p>"I had to threaten to not show up to a table read," <a href="https://www.insider.com/danielle-fishel-gift-wrapper-bloomingdales-after-boy-meets-world-2022-8">Fishel said,</a> recalling her team's fight to get her paid fairly. </p><p>Fishel said that her dad and agent Judy Savage (no relation to Fishel's costar, Ben Savage) stood their ground in negotiations with ABC or Disney (Fishel didn't recall which) and told her she had to skip a table read to show them she was "serious about not coming back" unless she got "treated fairly." </p><div type="image" title="Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel" height="1975" width="2642" msid="93465460" hostid="261" sizebytes="629656"></div><p>Fishel <a href="https://www.insider.com/danielle-fishel-cried-boy-meets-world-audition-2022-7">recalled sobbing to her team</a> as a young teenager and saying, "You're gonna lose this job for me." She said she was young and didn't quite care as much about getting paid fairly as her dad and Judy did. </p><p>"If they end up firing me because I don't show up to a table read, I will never speak to my family ever again," the mother of two remembered thinking. </p><p>But she said she listened, noting, "I ended up not showing up." </p><p>The topic of conversation changed quickly before the story was concluded, but Fishel went on to star as Topanga on every season of the show until it ended in 2000, so presumably the contract dispute was resolved in a way that was satisfying to her team.</p><iframe frameborder="0" height="175" style="width:100%;max-width:660px;overflow:hidden;background:transparent;" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lauren-lapkus-meets-world-tgi-episode-107-grandma-was/id1629908611?i=1000575323631"></iframe><p><em>New episodes of "Pod Meets Word" air weekly.</em></p>

'Boy Meets World' star Danielle Fishel says her dad and agent made her skip a table read while negotiating a large 'pay disparity' in her contract

<ul class="summary-list"><li>"Boy Meets World" star Maitland Ward left mainstream Hollywood for the adult film industry in 2006. </li><li>She said being on the hit TGIF sitcom "hindered my sexual exploration."</li></ul><p>"Boy Meets World" star Maitland Ward recently <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/maitland-ward-sexuality-unapologetically-160046665.html">told Yahoo Life</a> that starring on the hit TGIF sitcom "hindered my sexual exploration" — but she's since come to <a href="https://www.insider.com/how-are-sex-scenes-really-filmed-movies-tv-2022-8">embrace her sexuality</a> as a successful porn star. </p><p>Ward, 45, starred as Rachel McGuire in the later seasons of the show, from 1998 to 2000. She entered Cory Matthews' (Ben Savage) friend group as his brother Eric's (Will Friedle) roommate and eventually went on to date Shawn Hunter's (Rider Strong) brother Jack (Matthew Lawrence), who also lived in the apartment. </p><p>From the start, the character of Rachel was objectified on the show when Jack and Eric competed to date their new, gorgeous roommate.</p><p>Ward said that coming up in Hollywood at a time when <a href="https://www.insider.com/britney-spears-denies-documentaries-led-to-end-of-conservatorship-2022-7">pop stars like Britney Spears</a> and Jessica Simpson were praised for their presumed chastity and then being expected to wear sexy outfits for the TV show was "very confusing." </p><div type="image" title="Maitland Ward and Matthew Lawrence on &quot;Boy Meets World.&quot;" height="1525" width="2034" msid="93807980" hostid="261"></div><p>"Having to go to the producer's office and try on lingerie over and over for a scene and for different setups was odd," she said in a video accompanying the article, referencing storylines <a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-meets-world-danielle-fishel-catfished-2022-8">on "Boy Meets World"</a> that involved her character Rachel doing chores in sexy clothes and her friends sharing provocative photos that she took for her boyfriend as a prank. </p><p>She said she thought "that was just the way you do things as an actress" even though she felt "uncomfortable."  Ward said that being "sexualized" without fully realizing it took away the "power" of her sexuality. </p><p>The <a href="https://www.insider.com/marlon-wayans-paris-nicky-hilton-inspired-white-chicks-2021-7">"White Chicks" star</a> said that powers that be on "Boy Meets World" would also hold her to different modesty standards when the cameras weren't rolling. </p><p>"If I was on a show, like <a href="https://www.insider.com/danielle-fishel-boy-meets-world-body-image-issues-2022-7">'Boy Meets World,' I could be sexy</a>. I could wear a sheet with little feathers on it in nude pictures that I had for my boyfriend — that's fine," she said. "If I ever wore anything like that, or did anything suggestive like that in real life, Disney and producers and Hollywood would've come down on me."</p><div type="image" title="Maitland Ward posing on a beach." height="1642" width="2187" msid="93807981" hostid="261"></div><p>Ward specifically <a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-meets-world-rider-strong-recalls-damaging-atmosphere-on-set-2022-7">called out "Boy Meets World" creator Michael Jacobs</a>, saying that he "was very adamant about me being chaste and the good girl."</p><p>She began considering moving from mainstream Hollywood to the adult entertainment industry after she married her husband Terry Baxter in 2006 and very quickly became the number one creator of adult content on Patreon. Soon after, she was starring <a href="https://www.insider.com/guides/health/mental-health/porn-addiction">in feature-length adult films</a>. </p><p>The actor said she doesn't just blame "Boy Meets World" for taking advantage of her sexuality, but mainstream Hollywood as a whole. She said she found freedom from the pressure to stay young that <a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-meets-world-danielle-fishel-skipped-table-read-pay-disparity-2022-8">the industry puts on women</a> when she began making adult films. </p><div type="image" title="Maitland Ward dressed as Wonder Woman" height="2128" width="2832" msid="93807982" hostid="261"></div><p>"Hollywood is <a href="https://www.insider.com/celebrities-who-have-spoken-out-against-age-discrimination-2019-8">very hard on aging</a> but I have felt less of that stigma in porn," Ward said. "I've had more fans coming along as I've been older and been sexual."</p><p>Ward said she was told her age would hinder her, but she's found "major success."   </p><p>"So that was bullshit that they were feeding. I think it's just all part of this Hollywood machine — they want to keep you in a certain place at a certain time," she continued. </p><p>"I'm unapologetic about sex.  I think it's me in my truth," she said. "When I was young, I was so apologetic for so many years. I will never apologize anymore."</p><p>Ward's memoir "Rated X" will be available on September 6. </p>

'Boy Meets World' star Maitland Ward says being on the show 'hindered my sexual exploration' and she now embraces her sexuality as a porn star

<ul class="summary-list"><li>"Boy Meets World" star Danielle Fishel thrived as a young actor thanks to her mom but still eventually burned out. </li><li>She was considering leaving Hollywood when the chance to star and direct on "Girl Meets World" came.</li></ul><p>Danielle Fishel is the first to say she had as normal of an adolescence as any child actor could've had. </p><p>Fishel's breakthrough and most well-known role was as Topanga Lawrence on the ABC sitcom "Boy Meets World," the unexpected hit of the network's millennial-beloved "TGIF" line-up. Viewers quite literally grew up alongside Fishel, who started on the show as a 12-year-old in season one, and her character, who went from the quirky preteen frenemy of series lead Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) to <a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-meets-world-danielle-fishel-cory-topanga-marriage-fail-2023-3">Cory's eventual wife</a> over the course of the show's seven-year run.</p><p>In real life, Fishel <a href="https://www.insider.com/danielle-fishel-boy-meets-world-pregnant-jensen-karp-2019-1">attended Calabasas High School</a> when she wasn't filming the show, attending football games and the <a href="https://www.insider.com/celebrities-who-went-to-prom-together-2018-4">prom just like most "normal" high schoolers do</a>. Except her prom date was Lance Bass, a member of NSYNC, the hottest boy band of the late '90s and early 2000s.</p><p>No matter how surreal her life then may have seemed to many of us — the <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/danielle-fishel-reveals-which-nsync-member-told-her-lance-bass-was-gay-1234593498/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"un-romcom" she and Bass are working on about their brief relationship</a> is "at the very top of both of our lists," she tells Insider, noting that there are screenwriters attached and they are eyeing a potential 2024 release — Fishel had one constant in her life: her mother, Jennifer.</p><p>Fishel credits Jennifer, who quit her own job to act as Fishel's manager for a time, with helping her avoid the dark path familiar to many child stars </p><p>"She used to say to me, I can handle anything you tell me except a lie,'" Fishel says. She took the words to heart and felt comfortable dropping any "bombshell" on her mother, whether it was about sex, drugs, or anything in between. </p><p>But even her ever-present momager couldn't protect her from the "<a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-meets-world-danielle-fishel-skipped-table-read-pay-disparity-2022-8">weird power dynamics</a> and power structures" actors inevitably find on any Hollywood set, Fishel recalled.</p><p>"It's a very adult environment where we are asking children to be children but also act like adults," she adds. </p><p>In a conversation about her latest directing project, the Tubi original film "Classmates," Fishel spoke about tough on-set moments early in her career <a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-meets-world-guest-stars-celebrity-appearances-cameos-photos-2022-9">on "Boy Meets World,"</a> her acting hiatus spent gift-wrapping at Bloomingdale's, and how the lessons she's learned along the way have shaped her as a person and as a director.</p><h2>Fishel says she'd 'burnt out' by the end of 'Boy Meets World' and spent her 'mid-20s crisis' wrapping gifts at Bloomingdale's and denying that she'd played Topanga</h2><div type="image" title="Danielle Fishel" height="1500" width="2000" msid="100279053" hostid="261"></div><p>On their rewatch podcast, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pod-meets-world/id1629908611" target="_blank" rel="noopener">iHeartRadio's "Pod Meets World,"</a> Fishel and her "Boy Meets World" costars Rider Strong (who played Cory's best friend Shawn Hunter) and Will Friedle (who played his brother Eric Matthews) don't shy away from talking about the more negative aspects of their former jobs. </p><p>Strong <a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-meets-world-rider-strong-recalls-damaging-atmosphere-on-set-2022-7">recalled how it felt as if the show's creator, Michael Jacobs,</a> had an idea in his head of what he wanted each episode to be, and if the actors didn't live up to that idea exactly, there was a sense on set that the episode was "falling apart."</p><p>Fishel shared in the same podcast episode that Jacobs once chastised her in front of the entire cast and crew, telling her he was going to save the notes on her performance for last because "if I made everyone sit here through all of the notes I have for you we would all be here for hours, and no one would ever get to go home." Jacobs then privately threatened to fire her if her acting didn't improve, she said.</p><p>She described her experience on set as "chasing the dragon of Michael approval." By the time "Boy Meets World" ended, she was burnt out from the unnecessary pressure of, as she put it, reaching for someone else's unrealistic expectations of perfection.</p><div type="image" title="Danielle Fishel and Ben Savage smiling" height="1205" width="1607" msid="100279057" hostid="261"></div><p>Fishel tells Insider she had a "mid-twenties crisis" trying to figure out what to do with her life when acting roles became scarce after "Boy Meets World." So she decided to pivot.<a href="https://www.insider.com/danielle-fishel-gift-wrapper-bloomingdales-after-boy-meets-world-2022-8"></a></p><p><a href="https://www.insider.com/danielle-fishel-gift-wrapper-bloomingdales-after-boy-meets-world-2022-8">Around 2009</a>, while in college, she took a seasonal job gift-wrapping for Bloomingdale's as she pursued her education. If people recognized her and asked her if she was "the girl from that show," she says she'd deny it and keep wrapping their gift whether they believed her or not. </p><p>In 2013, at 32, Fishel graduated from <a href="https://daniellefishel.com/#:~:text=At%20twenty%2Dseven%2C%20Danielle%20decided,Rowan%20Blanchard%20and%20Sabrina%20Carpenter." target="_blank" rel="noopener">CSU Fullerton with a degree in psychology</a>. She had just gotten an acceptance letter from Chapman University and was planning to pursue a Master's degree in marriage and family therapy when her phone rang. </p><p>Jacobs, the "Boy Meets World" creator, was on the line, telling her he had plans for a spinoff called "Girl Meets World." She would reprise her role as Topanga, who was now living in Manhattan with Cory and their two children, Riley (Rowan Blanchard) and Auggie (August Maturo).</p><p>Fishel says she took the offer because it was a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." But after spending a season in front of the camera as her alter ego, she knew she had to put her psychology degree and acting experience together to try and create a more positive vibe on the set of the reboot, this time as a director. The decision changed her life.</p><h2>Fishel says she takes her job seriously, but it's 'also not brain surgery or saving somebody's life'  </h2><div type="image" title="Danielle Fishel and Anjelica Bette Fellini on set of &quot;Classmates.&quot;" height="1999" width="2666" msid="100279059" hostid="261"></div><p>Despite the notes incident she had with Jacobs in her early days, Fishel is only complimentary of Jacobs now that she's an adult, telling Insider she "would never have been able to direct" if it weren't for him giving her the chance to step behind the camera on "Girl Meets World." Fishel directed several episodes before the show was canceled in 2017.</p><p>Having experienced the stress of being a child actor firsthand, Fishel now says that creating a comfortable environment for kids is a top priority when she's in the director's chair. Though she's been directing sitcoms like "Girl Meets World"  and "Raven's Home" for nearly a decade now, "Classmates," written by her husband <a href="https://www.insider.com/shrimp-tails-claim-inside-cinnamon-toast-crunch-box-viral-2021-3">Jensen Karp</a>, is her biggest project yet. The film stars Camille Kostek and Anjelica Bette Fellini as college students who switch identities on the first day of college and find themselves learning lessons and navigating trouble they never expected.</p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YP-gtKm0Z7g" frameborder="0"></iframe><p>Fishel describes her demeanor on set as "calm" and "cool," and she credits that attitude with keeping her actors comfortable. "I take everything that we're doing seriously and it is important, but it is also not brain surgery or saving somebody's life," she says. "And the number one thing that is most important to me is that everybody who works on my sets feels valued and respected."</p><p>Fishel works almost exclusively on content geared toward young adults and says that in her experience, actors need to learn to blame themselves less for changes that happen on set. "What I wish actors knew is that it is very rarely ever about you," she says. </p><p>That's something Fishel wishes she could've told her younger self, who burned out trying to attain a level of impossible perfection. She also wishes she could've told teen Danielle to appreciate her years on "Boy Meets World" and enjoy the ride a bit more: "You are never going to get this back. And this feeling you have that you're missing out on life is a lie."</p><p><a href="https://tubitv.com/movies/100000379/classmates" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Classmates" is streaming on Tubi now.</a></p>

'You are never going to get this back': Danielle Fishel on 'Boy Meets World' burnout, her momager, and how the lessons she's learned shape the way she directs young actors

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="13392540" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="danielle-fishel" source="Orion">Danielle Fishel</keyword> originally lost the role of Topanga on "<keyword id="13392542" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="boy-meets-world" source="Orion">Boy Meets World</keyword>." </li><li>Fishel re-auditoned against "Full House" star Marla Sokoloff after the first actress didn't pan out.</li></ul><p>Cory (Ben Savage) and Topanga's (Danielle Fishel) relationship on the <keyword id="13728907" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tgif" source="Orion">TGIF</keyword> sitcom "Boy Meets World" defined couple goals for millennials growing up in <keyword id="14511355" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="the-90s" source="Orion">the '90s</keyword>. But Fishel revealed that she wasn't <a href="https://www.insider.com/danielle-fishel-boy-meets-world-body-image-issues-2022-7">the original Topanga</a> and came close to losing the role a second time to "Full House" star Marla Sokoloff. </p><p>Fishel told the story on Monday's episode of the rewatch <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-pod-meets-world-98589488/">podcast "Pod Meets World,"</a> which she cohosts with her friends and former castmates Will Friedle <a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-meets-world-rider-strong-disconnected-from-show-2022-7">and Rider Strong</a>, who played Cory's brother Eric and Cory's best friend Shawn on the show, respectively. </p><p>Around the 13-minute mark of the <keyword id="11918054" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="podcast" source="Orion">podcast</keyword>, Fishel explained that when she first auditioned for the role of Cory's unlikely childhood sweetheart Topanga, she didn't even get called back to read a second time. "I had zero idea what acting was," she said. She noted that she was very young and her previous parts were small and didn't require her to pretend to have a different personality than she naturally had. </p><div type="image" title="Danielle Fishel and Ben Savage smiling" height="1205" width="1607" msid="93015674" hostid="261" sizebytes="93168"></div><p>She landed a smaller part on the show as a classmate of Cory's named Barbara, who the podcast hosts dubbed "fish girl" because a presentation the character did for Mr. Feeny (William Daniels) on her first episode involved a fish carcass.</p><p>But podcast guest David Trainer, who was the episode's director and in charge on set at the time because showrunner Michael Jacobs observed Shabbat, said the original Topanga actor's performance was "a disaster," so she was fired. </p><p>Trainer had to find another Topanga quickly but knew that between either Sokoloff or Fishel, the right actress to play the character was already on set. "She's here, I've seen her," he recalled telling producers who were making decisions in Jacobs' absence, at about the 17:45 mark of the conversation. From there, the team decided to do a last-minute emergency re-audition of both Sokoloff and Fishel.</p><div type="image" title="Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel, and Will Friedle." height="3615" width="4821" msid="93015675" hostid="261" sizebytes="1212616"></div><p>Fishel remembered feeling "stressed" as she waited outside the audition room with her mom and heard talking and laughing going on during Sokoloff's audition. As for her audition, Fishel said at about the 20:05 mark, "I walked in and I did the scene and then I was done." She said no one walked out behind her and asked for her contact information, describing the quiet in the air as "crickets."</p><p>Fishel said that when she left the building she "burst into tears" while walking to the car with her mom, thinking she'd bombed her second chance. She called her dad on the family's car phone sobbing and was trying to explain what had happened when the casting director called her dad on the other line to explain Fishel <em>had</em> gotten <a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-meets-world-facts-2018-10">the role of Topanga</a>. </p><div type="image" title="Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel" height="1975" width="2642" msid="93015676" hostid="261" sizebytes="629656"></div><p>When her very confused father came back on the line to tell her she'd gotten the part, "I just screamed," Fishel said on the podcast.</p><p>Fishel went on to play Topanga for <a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-meets-world-danielle-fishel-reacts-criticize-topanga-yale-2022-7">all seven seasons of "Boy Meets World.</a>" Sokoloff is best known for playing Stephanie Tanner's (Jodie Sweetin) frenemy Gia Mahan on "Full House." </p><p>"I get chills thinking about it. I will remember it for the rest of my life," Fishel said of the moment she learned she'd be Topanga and screamed with her mom in the car. "It changed everything." </p><iframe frameborder="0" height="175" style="width:100%;max-width:660px;overflow:hidden;background:transparent;" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/david-trainer-meets-world/id1629908611?i=1000570263864"></iframe><p>New episodes of "<keyword id="14376526" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pod-meets-world" source="Orion">Pod Meets World</keyword>" are released on Mondays and Thursdays. </p>

Danielle Fishel says she 'burst into tears' after her last-chance 'Boy Meets World' audition: 'It changed everything'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>William Daniels said he almost didn't play the beloved Mr. Feeny on "<keyword id="13392542" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="boy-meets-world" source="Orion">Boy Meets World</keyword>." </li><li>He recalled telling the showrunner, "I don't really want to make fun of teachers."</li></ul><p>"Boy Meets World" star William Daniels revealed on the <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pod-meets-world/id1629908611">show's rewatch podcast "Pod Meets World"</a> on Monday that he originally rejected the role of beloved teacher Mr. Feeny on the hit <keyword id="13728907" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tgif" source="Orion">TGIF</keyword> sitcom.</p><p>Showrunner Michael Jacobs had offered him the part, and they had a meeting to discuss why Daniels didn't want to take it.</p><p>Around the 17:15 mark of the episode, Daniels explained what he felt at the time. "I said, 'Well, that's a funny name and I don't really want to make fun of teachers,'" he told <keyword id="11918054" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="podcast" source="Orion">podcast</keyword> cohosts (and former costars) <a href="https://www.insider.com/danielle-fishel-boy-meets-world-body-image-issues-2022-7">Danielle Fishel</a>, <keyword id="14376527" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="will-friedle" source="Orion">Will Friedle</keyword>, and Rider Strong. </p><p>"'I respect them, and they're underpaid and all that,'" he remembered telling Jacobs about why he was hesitant to play a man with the last name Feeny. </p><div type="image" title="William Daniels" height="2783" width="3711" msid="92859393" hostid="261" sizebytes="578838"></div><p>Jacobs then told Daniels that the character was based on a mentor he had in high school, which changed the "Graduate" star's mind. </p><p>On the podcast, Strong recalled that Daniels was <a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-meets-world-rider-strong-disconnected-from-show-2022-7">still "very upset"</a> about how Mr. Feeny was written in the original pilot script, so Jacobs went against <keyword id="11896774" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="abc" source="Orion">ABC</keyword>'s wishes and rewrote the pilot so Daniels was happier with the role. </p><p>Daniels explained that after the initial table read, he was afraid his character would be "the brunt of a joke" for the entire series. </p><p>Friedle supported Daniels, saying it was "very common" at the time for television shows to portray teachers as the "buffoon" that kids manipulated. </p><p>The pilot episode of <a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-meets-world-danielle-fishel-trina-mcgee-racism-cast-closer-2022-7">"Boy Meets World" transformed</a> from its original story (which hasn't been revealed publicly) to a story about Cory (Ben Savage) learning about the importance of love.</p><div type="image" title="Ben Savage and William Daniels in &quot;Boy Meets World.&quot;" height="1464" width="1953" msid="92859395" hostid="261" sizebytes="142914"></div><p>In the pilot that aired, Cory's class was putting on a <a href="https://www.insider.com/italian-couple-lockdown-balconies-romeo-and-juliet-engaged-2020-9">production of "Romeo &amp; Juliet,"</a> but Cory would rather listen to the Phillies game, which earned him detention. His brother Eric (Friedle) also chose to take a date to the baseball game rather than Cory, which made love an even dumber concept in 11-year-old Cory's mind. In the end, Cory comes around to the idea of love because he realized he was a role model for his little sister Morgan (then played by Lily Gibson).</p><p>This layered lesson won Daniels over. He went on to play Mr. Feeny — who taught Cory, Topanga (Fishel), Shawn (Strong), and Eric from junior high through college — for <a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-meets-world-danielle-fishel-reacts-criticize-topanga-yale-2022-7">all seven seasons of "Boy Meets World."</a></p><h2>Daniels also recalled literally running away from fans in New York </h2><div type="image" title="&quot;Boy Meets World.&quot;" height="1949" width="2600" msid="92859398" hostid="261" sizebytes="580348"></div><p>Mr. Feeny subsequently became America's teacher. But Daniels, who took his craft very seriously, recalled a trip to New York during which fans' love for his character became overwhelming. </p><p>He was walking along the sidewalk when a school bus came by and unloaded a bus full of kids, the "St. Elsewhere" star said around the 21: 30 mark of the podcast. </p><p>"They saw me and they said, 'Mr. Feeny!' and I'm running... and I ran around the block," the 95-year-old actor said. </p><div type="image" title="William Daniels and his wife Bonnie Bartlett on &quot;Boy Meets World.&quot;" height="2117" width="2822" msid="92859399" hostid="261" sizebytes="267234"></div><p>His wife, actor Bonnie Bartlett, who joined the podcast conversation, distinctly remembered the moment, too. </p><p>"He ran away from them. He said to me, 'Sorry, I'll see you later' and he ran," she laughed. "They terrified him." </p><p>Bartlett joined the cast of "Boy Meets World" in its final season at Jacobs' request. She played the college dean, Lila Bolander, who eventually became Mr. Feeny's wife. </p><iframe frameborder="0" height="175" style="width:100%;max-width:660px;overflow:hidden;background:transparent;" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/william-daniels-meets-pod/id1629908611?i=1000569485131"></iframe><p>New episodes of "<keyword id="14376526" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pod-meets-world" source="Orion">Pod Meets World</keyword>" are released on Mondays. </p>

'Boy Meets World' star William Daniels reveals he originally turned down the role of Mr. Feeny because he didn't want to 'make fun' of teachers

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="13392540" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="danielle-fishel" source="Orion">Danielle Fishel</keyword> said the "<keyword id="13392542" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="boy-meets-world" source="Orion">Boy Meets World</keyword>" cast has grown "so much closer" because they have hard conversations.</li><li>Fishel and her "<keyword id="14376526" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pod-meets-world" source="Orion">Pod Meets World</keyword>" cohosts told Insider they won't shy away from important issues.</li></ul><p>"Boy Meets World" star <a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-meets-world-danielle-fishel-ben-savage-one-date-2022-3">Danielle Fishel told Insider</a> in a recent interview that the cast of the hit <keyword id="13728907" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tgif" source="Orion">TGIF</keyword> sitcom became "so much closer" since her former costar <keyword id="14387302" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="trina-mcgee" source="Orion">Trina McGee</keyword> spoke out about racism she experienced on set. According to Fishel, the cast didn't ignore the issue and instead decided to have difficult conversations with each other. </p><p>In January 2020, McGee tweeted about the racism she experienced on set from 1997 to 2000 when she played Shawn Hunter's (Rider Strong) love interest Angela Moore. The behavior was similar in 2015 when McGee returned for the spinoff "Girl Meets World."</p><p>The actor <a href="https://twitter.com/realtrinamcgee/status/1216319034842468352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1216319034842468352%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.yahoo.com%2Fentertainment%2Ftrina-mcgee-racism-boy-meets-world-set-160033460.html">tweeted that</a> she was "called aunt Jemima" and a "bitter bitch" and treated "like a stranger" on set, even though she appeared on nearly 60 episodes of the original series. At the time, McGee didn't specify who on set called her racist names.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Trina McGee  (@realtrinamcgee) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1216319034842468352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2020</a></blockquote><p>She later opened up to <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/trina-mcgee-racism-boy-meets-world-set-160033460.html">Yahoo Entertainment</a> in July 2020 about why she was now confronting the racism she'd experienced.</p><p>"I feel like I'm always the one who had to squelch it and move on," McGee told Yahoo <keyword id="11896019" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="entertainment" source="Orion">Entertainment</keyword>. "What about me? What about all this stuff I'm taking and ingesting in me, and not really totally realizing how much it's lowering my vibration, my self-esteem."</p><p>McGee said her feelings were resurfacing in 2020 because she felt similarly uncomfortable on the <a href="https://www.insider.com/girl-meets-world-canceled-disney-channel-2017-1">"Girl Meets World"</a> set several years before.</p><p>She revealed that it was Friedle who had called her the racist name and said that she had since received an apology from him that was "completely sincere."</p><p>In June 2020, Fishel tweeted that she was the person who made McGee feel unwelcome on the spinoff set. "I owed <a href="https://twitter.com/realtrinamcgee">@realtrinamcgee</a> an apology for being rude, cold, &amp; distant when she guest starred on GMW (her tweet regarding warm hellos being met with cold blank stares was about me)." She said she apologized and McGee "gracefully" accepted.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Danielle Fishel Karp  (@daniellefishel) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1269746268936343552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 7, 2020</a></blockquote><h2>The 'Pod Meets World' cast told Insider they're ready to talk about their mistakes</h2><div type="image" title="&quot;Boy Meets World&quot; cast." height="2661" width="2261" msid="92712429" hostid="261" sizebytes="296284"></div><p>In a joint interview with Friedle and Strong promoting their <a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-meets-world-facts-2018-10">"Boy Meets World"</a> rewatch <keyword id="11918054" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="podcast" source="Orion">podcast</keyword> <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-pod-meets-world-98589488/">"Pod Meets World,"</a> Fishel told Insider she's not afraid to admit that she's made mistakes in her past.</p><p>"Social media has actually made us worse communicators and there's already a tendency for some people to shy away from confrontation," she said. Fishel knows that some people "embrace" tense encounters but she thinks the "default" is to avoid them. </p><p>"With that said, if something happens that one person isn't aware is a big deal — because to them it was a flippant comment or a moment that felt rushed through — and you don't know how much of an impact it made on someone else, you'll never know it unless they come to you and say, 'I need to talk to you about what happened," Fishel continued</p><p>She said that accepting their "less than stellar" moments is how people grow. </p><div type="image" title="&quot;Boy Meets World.&quot;" height="1768" width="2357" msid="92712430" hostid="261" sizebytes="97232"></div><p>So, although McGee has <a href="https://twitter.com/realtrinamcgee/status/1270594635098775553?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1270594635098775553%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.today.com%2Fpopculture%2Fboy-meets-world-star-trina-mcgee-says-danielle-fishel-apologized-t186632">publicly healed her relationships</a> with both Fishel and Friedle, the cohosts have made it clear on the podcast that they will be revisiting the issue when McGee joins them as a guest on an upcoming episode.</p><p>"It has made us so much closer, the things that have come out of those conversations, the tears that have been shed, the hugs that we've had, the closeness it has brought us, has been some of my favorite moments of the last several years," <a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-meets-world-danielle-fishel-resented-the-show-2022-4">Fishel said</a> of the difficult talks she's had with McGee and other cast members. <br /><br />Friedle told Insider that the <a href="https://www.insider.com/boy-meets-world-danielle-fishel-ben-savage-one-date-2022-3">"Boy Meets World" cast is "a family,"</a> so some confrontation is inevitable and he's "looking forward" to discussing important topics publicly with McGee and other members of the cast. </p><p>"When you can all get together and look back at that and talk about it as adults, that's how you grow," he said. "One of the few things that I'm so happy about is how close we are to everybody now."</p><p>New episodes of "Pod Meets World" are released on Mondays.</p>

'Boy Meets World' star Trina McGee talking about the racism she experienced on set with her costars ultimately made them all 'so much closer,' Danielle Fishel says

You Searched For "rider strong" and got 9 results

Danielle Fishel says 'Boy Meets World' didn't address body-image issues in a 'positive' way

Esme Mazzeo

'Boy Meets World' star Danielle Fishel says she worked as a gift-wrapper at Bloomingdale's after the show ended: 'I liked to wrap presents'

Esme Mazzeo

'Boy Meets World' star Danielle Fishel says her dad and agent made her skip a table read while negotiating a large 'pay disparity' in her contract

Esme Mazzeo

'Boy Meets World' star Maitland Ward says being on the show 'hindered my sexual exploration' and she now embraces her sexuality as a porn star

Esme Mazzeo

'You are never going to get this back': Danielle Fishel on 'Boy Meets World' burnout, her momager, and how the lessons she's learned shape the way she directs young actors

Esme Mazzeo

Danielle Fishel says she 'burst into tears' after her last-chance 'Boy Meets World' audition: 'It changed everything'

Esme Mazzeo

'Boy Meets World' star William Daniels reveals he originally turned down the role of Mr. Feeny because he didn't want to 'make fun' of teachers

Esme Mazzeo

'Boy Meets World' star Trina McGee talking about the racism she experienced on set with her costars ultimately made them all 'so much closer,' Danielle Fishel says

Esme Mazzeo

Everything former Nickelodeon stars have said in response to the docuseries 'Quiet on Set'

Olivia Singh